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THE FIRST FLAG 

OVER 

RICHMOND, Va., 

APRIL 3, 1865. 



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THE 



^COLORS 

OF THE 

United States 

FIRST RAISED OVER 

THE CAPITOL 

OF THE 

Confederate States, 

APRIL 3, 1865. 






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TwESTY-six Copies Printed, 
FOR Private Circulation only. 



No. 



TO 

P[rs. €stetle ITibingston tt ^^custcr, 

OF TIVOLI, DUCHESS COUNTY, NEW TOEK, 

As a slight memento of a long-continued, intimate, 
and unbroken friendship, 

THE FOLLOWING BRIEF RECORD OF THE HONORABLE 
SERVICE OF HER YOUNGEST SON, 

IS RESPECTFULLr INSCRIBED, 

WITH THE HIGHEST REGARD OF 

THE AUTHOR. 

Morrisania, N. Y., April 9. 1S66, 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The following brief Memoir was originally written 
for, and published in, The Gazette, a weekly news- 
paper, recently published under my editorial super- 
vision, in the village of Yonkers, Westchester Coun- 
ty, N. Y. It has been transferred to the following 
pages, in order to save the record which it contains 
from the common fate of all newspaper articles. 

H. B. D. 

Morrisanin, N. Y,, April2l, 18^6. 



THE FIRST FLAG. 



There are few honors so enviable, among sol- 
diers, as the formal occupation of the ofiScial res- 
idence of an enemy's Government ; and, conse- 
quently, there are few which are more eagerly 
contended for and more desjierately contested. 

We very well remember an example of this 
commendable spirit, in the determined bravery 
and skill with which General Santa Anna resist- 
ed the approach of the gallant and accomplished 
Worth, when, by the way of the causeway of 
Veronica and the Garita San Cosme', in the face 
of the mostelaborate obstacles, the latter was forc- 
ing his way into the city of Mexico; and we have 
not forgotten the bitter anguish with which the 
honored widow and daughters of the latter, nar- 
rated to us, in their quiet home, at Albany, the 
perfidy with which " the grateful service " to 
which the husband and father had so honorably 
aspired— that of simply " planting guards and 
"hoisting the colors of the United States on the 
" National Palace containing the Halls of Con- 
" gress and the Executive apartments ol Federal 
"•Mexico " — was rewarded by the petty General- 
in-Chief, when the latter, arbitrarily and unjustly, 
1 



10 

threw into the hands of General Quitman and 
his Division, the distinguished honors for which 
General Worth and his command had so manfully- 
struggled and which they had so nobly earned. 
Indeed, so important were these honors consider- 
ed by the gallant soldier who had fought for them 
with so much bravery and skill, that the conduct 
of General Scott, in ordering General Quitman to 
the front while the foi'mer was halted to enable 
him to pass to the post of honor, so deeply af- 
fected General Worth, that his early and lament- 
ed death was mainly attributed to it, by those 
who knew him best and by whom he has been 
most sincerely lamented. 

A like opportunity for distinction, and only 
one, was afforded by the recent War of Secession; 
and we are not surprised that more than one 
gallant soldier attempted to seize it, or that 
more than one now claim the right of enjoying 
it. The honor of raising the colors of the United 
States, over the Capitol at Richmond, was prob- 
ably contended for by many lion-hearted men : 
of one, at least, — a member of the military family 
of General Shepley, — there is evidence that his 
purpose to do so, was carefully considered and 
dvily provided for, long before the coveted oppor- 
tunity was really presented for his acceptance. 

On the twenty-eighth of March, nearly a week 
before the surrender of the city, the young gen- 
tleman referred to, thus wrote to one of his young 
friends, in Duchess County, New York : 



11 



Head Quarters, 25th Army Corps, 
Army of tbe James, 

In tbe field, March 28th 1865. 
My Dear Lew. 

I write, may be, for the last time. Tomorrow 
the battle is expected, tbe battle of the war. I 
can not tell you any of the facts, for they are 
contiaband ; but we are all ready and packed. 
Any way, I expect to date my letters soon, if I 
escape, "Richmond, March 29th.'' 

I have promised to carry out a bet made by 
my general, that if we take Richmond, to put a 
certain flag, he has, on the house of J. Davis, or 
on the Rebel Capitol, or perish in the attempt. 
So you may, in that case, see my name in the 
papers, soon. ***** 
J. L. DE Petster. 

The writer of this letter was a mere lad, in the 
eighteenth year of his age, and delicately formed; 
a member of one of the oldest and most loyal of 
the families which controlled the destinies of 
Colonial New York; allied with nearly every 
family of consequence in that Colony and State; 
a child of wealth, and commanding all the re- 
sources which he could properly enjoy. He had 
entered the army, as his two brothers had entered 
it, before him, to seek glory, not wealth or posi- 
tion, at the cannon's mouth ; and he doubtless 
felt that the honor of a long line of ancestors, 
each of whom had been as distinguished for his 
unyielding loyalty as he could hope to be, had 
been placed in his especial keeping, on the tented 
field. 

Six days subsequent to the date of the spirited 
letter which we have quoted, after the young 



12 



gentleman to whom it was addressed had received 
and perused it, the city of Richmond was occu- 
pied by the Federal troops ; and among the first 
to enter it was Lieutenant Johnston Livingston 
DB Pbtster, who is the subject of this sketch. 

He was mounted, of course ; and on the pom- 
mel of his saddle was strapped a folded flag, 
" the colors of the United States," which had 
formerly belonged to the Twelfth regiment of 
Maine Volunteers, of which General Shepley, 
his chief, had once been the Colonel. This flag 
had already seen active service in New Orleans, 
when General Sheplet was the Military Govern- 
or of that city ; and, some time before the move- 
ment on Richmond, the General, in his fondness 
for it, had made a wager that, some day or other, 
it should wave over the Capitol of the Confed- 
eracy. 

As we have said, this storm-flag of General 
Sheplet's was folded and strapped snugly on the 
pommel of Lieutenant de Petster's saddle ; and, 
with him, it was not far behind the advance- 
guard of the army, in the occupation of the city 
by the Federal troops. It had been entrusted to 
him by his chief, on his promise to ''take care of 
"it;"' and, by the same authority, he purposed to 
raised it on the flag-staif of the Capitol. 

We have before us, a letter which he wrote to 
his mother, in which he modestly told her how 
faithfully he had redeemed his promise; and our 
readers will not desire from us a more elabo- 
rately-wrought statement of that very interesting 
event. It is in these words : 



13 

Head Quarters, 

Army of the James, 

Richmond, April 3d, 1865. 
Mt Dearest Mother. 

This morning, about 4 o'clock, I was got up, 
just one hour after I retired, with the information 
that At 6 we were going to Richmond. At six 
we started, the Rebs had gone at 3, along a road 
strewn with all the munitions of war. Richmond 
was reached but the barbarous South had con- 
signed it to flames. The roar of the bursting 
shells was terrific. Arriving at the Capitol 1 
sprang from my horse, first unbuckling the Stars 
and Stripes, a large flag I had on the front of my 
saddle. With Captain Langdon, Chief of Artil- 
lery, I rushed up to the roof. Together we 
hoisted the first large flag over Richmond and on 
the peak of the root drank to its success. 

Our line of march, when near the city, was 
lined with men, women, and boys, colored and 
white, all shouting welcome. The excitement 
was intense: old men, gray and scarred by many 
battles, acted the part of boys, shouting and yell- 
ing at tbe top of their voices. 

In the Capitol I found 4 flags, three rebel, one 
ours. I presented them all, as the conqueror, to 
Genl. Weitzel. It is glorious. I am tired out, 
however, and have been busy with only one 
hour's sleep for 48 hours. 

I will write soon more at length. I am fagged 
out. 

I have fulfilled my bet and put the first large 
flag over Richmond. 

I found two small guidons, took them down, 
and returned them to the 4th Mass. Cav. where 
they belong. 

The people are abusive in the extreme, of the 
Rebels. Costumes are numerous. Women here 
have no hoops whatsoever. Men havQ. curious 



14 



mixture of material and colors. I write from 
Jeff. Davis' private room. 
Genl. Shefley is Military Governor. 
Love to all 

I remain ever Your Atft. Son 

Johnston. 

It will be seen that " two small guidons," be- 
longing to the Fourth regiment of Massachusetts 
Cavalry, were found on the roof of the Capitol, 
by the two officers of whom we have 
spoken ; and we have learned that two 
other officers, members of the military 
family of General Weitzel, had accompanied the 
party of cavalry which was sent forward in pur- 
suit of the fugitive enemy, and by an unauthor- 
ized detour, they had attempted to seize the honors 
which were reserved for another, by raising the 
guidons of their party on the roof of the aband- 
oned Capitol. 

It is hardly necessary for us to say, that the 
latter were not successful in their earnest desire 
to win the honors of the day. The hoisting of 
" two small guidons," as the hoisting of a dozen 
would have done, failed to secure " the grateful 
" service,'' as it was styled, in Mexico, by Gen- 
eral Scott, of a formal possession of the Capitol 
at Richmond ; and as was reserved to General 
QciTMAX, in the former case, the honor of a 
formal occupation, by " hoisting the colors of the 
" United States on the National Palace,'- so, in the 
latter, but with entire justice to all, was a like 
honor reserved to " Lieutenant de Petsteb and 



15 



" Captain Langdon,'' in their formal occupation 
of the Capitol of the Confederate States, by 
" hoisting the colors of the United States," over 
that edifice. 

The guidons of the Fourth Massachusetts Cav- 
alry had another mission : to " the colors of the 
" United States," alone, belonged the authority 
to proclaim the downfall of the Confederacy and 
the advent of Peace. 

Two days after, General Wectzel communicat- 
ed to the father ot the young Lieutenant, in New 
York, the following statement of the service of 
of which we have spoken : 

In the field, 

April 5th 1865. 
J. W. DE Petster, Esq., 
New York City : 

Your son Lieut. J. de Petstek and Captain 

Laxgdox, my Chief of Artillery, raised the first 

real American ^/^ag over the Capitol in Richmond. 

It was a flag formerly belonging to the 12th 

Maine Vols. 

Two cavalry guidons had however been placed 
over the buiiding previously by two of my staff 
officers ; these were replaced by the flag de Pet- 
ster and Langdon raised. 

Yours Truly 

G. Weitzel 
Maj. Genl. 

On the twenty-second of April, — less than 
three weeks after the occurrence — General Shep- 
LET thus addressed the father of Lieutenant de 
Peystbr, on the same subject : 



16 



Headquarters, 25th Army Corps, 
Army of the James, 
la the field Va., April, 22d, 1865. 
Near Petersbur^h. 
J. Watts de Petster, Esq. 

Dear Sir 

* * * * jf. * * 

Your son Lt. de Peyster raised the first flag in 
Richmond, replacing two small cavalry guidons 
on the Capitol 

The flag is now in the possession of Major Genl. 
Weitzel. I enclose a small piece of the flag. 

The histoi'y of the affair is this : 

I brought with me from Norfolk an old Storm 
flag which I had used in New Orleans reraai'king 
sportively that it would do to float over the 
Capitol in Richmond, where I hoped to see it. 

De Petster, who heard the remark, said "Gen- 
" eral, will you let me raise it for you ?" I said, 
" Yes, if you will bring it with you and take care 
" of it, you shall raise it in Richmond." 

As we left our lines to advance towards Rich- 
mond, Lt. DE Petster said, '• General, do you 
" remember your promise about the flag?" I 
said " Yes. go to my tent and get the flag, and 
carry it on your saddle ; and I will send you to 

" raise it, if we get in." The result you know. 

* * * * * * * 

Most Respy. and Sincerely, 
Yr. Obt. Svt. 
G. F. Sheplet 
Brig.Genl. U. S. V. 

With their characteristic diligence, two of the 
leading papers of the day, in the city of New 
York, announced the name and services of the 
fortunate young Lieutenant ;* and, on the first 

* Coinmf7'cial Advertiser, Second edition, Tliursday, 
April 6, 1865 ; New Yorlc Herald, Tliursday, April 13, 
1865. 



17 



of May, 1865, the Governor of the State in whose 
ranks he served, honored him with a Brevet- 
lieutenant-colonel's commission, " for gallant and 
" meritorious conduct, and for hoisting the first 
•' American flag over Richmond, Va., after its 
' capture hy the Union forces, April 3rd, 1865 ; 
'■ and as a Testimonial of the zeal, fidelity, and 
'• courage with which [he had] maintained the 
" Honor of the State of New York in her Efforts 
" to enforce the Laws of the United States, the 
" Supremacy of the Constitution, and a Republi- 
'• can form of Government." On Christmas day, 
1805, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty ot 
the city of New York, by formal vote of the Com- 
mon Council, tendered to him the thanks of the 
city of New York, " forgiving to New Yoik this 
" Historic Honor ;" and we have the authority 
of a Senator of the United States for saying, that, 
a few days since, the distinguished body of which 
he is a member, confirmed the nomination of 
theyoung soldier to a Brevet-lieutenant-colonelcy 
of United States Volunteers, for the same service, 
which the President had sent in. He now enjoys, 
in his father's family-circle and among those who 
have the pleasure of his acquaintance, the respec t 
which properly belongs to a gallant and success- 
ful soldier. H. B. D. 
2 



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